Shop till you drop

Travellers at times seem to miss one thing at global travel spots – Shopping Festivals! Here are the best shopping festivals at the right destinations, which lets you binge shop so hard and appease your wanderlust as well.

Dubai Shopping Festival
With shopping being a leisure activity among the locals, no wonder shopping complexes look like palaces. Home to the biggest shopping malls in the world, everything comes alive during the famous ‘Dubai Shopping Festival’ along with the more traditional Souqs upping their trade game as well.

The Great Singapore Sale
Arguably one of the best fits for the ‘Melting Pot Capital of the World’ Singapore is the most efficient modern city in the world. For the big moneyed, there is the glitzy Orchard road belt, brimming with high-end retail and fine restaurants. There are a number of malls if you’re more into grabbing the best deals for all the mainstream brands. The local suburban neighborhoods such as the Chinatown, Kampong lane & Little India is native to those independent, exclusive and even cheaper labels partnered with quirky cafes to keep you filled during the long hours of loot.

Cannes Shopping Festival:
A Playground for celebrities, the winding harbourside roads, and the classy city itself. No wonder the rich and famous throng in the port-city even when the famous film festival is not around. All that celebrity hanging has made Cannes a city purely for the rich. The Cannes Shopping Festival is the right one if you are a like to spend well and have a taste for high-end events and indulgence.

USA Outlet Shopping Festival:
A well-known thing about the USA is everything big. So is the 4-day shopping festival which spans across most cities pan country. This is not a destination specific festival but rather a retail discount frenzy with hundreds of brands. Unlike many other global shopping festivals which are intended to draw international tourists, this one is specifically aimed at the resident consumers.

Istanbul Shopping Festival:
Istanbul is the enchanting destination, where the east meets the west. The Istanbul Shopping Festival draws inspiration from history, it was the bustling trade city ‘Constantinople’ and the cultural history of the place is an epic in itself. The shopping festival is segregated on the type of venues. First, you have the designated malls, finest in the country which trade in mainstream consumer goods of all prices at discount.

Then come the famous, centuries-old streets filled with fashion labels, retail brands, cafes, street food, traditional and even Michelin star restaurants. This city is home to the oldest shopping centers in history. These bazaars sell everything from perfumes, carpets, chinaware, fresh produce, exotic clothing, books and what not! Istanbul Shopping Festival is an ode to the glories and the modernities. It's where old meets new.

- Courtesy: Cleartrip